4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The actor playing Alexander Akimov, for instance, was never even put in makeup to depict the loss of his face. [4] They were found by other workers and taken to the infirmary. His wife Lyuba is at his side.'. How would I find another job after that?". Chernobyl engineer Oleksiy Breus, then and now, beside the backdrop of the TV portrayal of the disaster, By Viacheslav Shramovych and Hanna Chornous, Mr Breus revisited the reactor's control room 20 years after the disaster struck, Viktor Bryukhanov (left) sits alongside deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov (orange shirt) and chief engineer Nikolai Fomin during a trial over the accident, British actor Adam Nagaitis played Vasily Ignatenko, one of the first firefighters on the scene of the disaster, The view of the damaged building from the roof of reactor No. 1953. And finally they said, The hell with it! Firefighters were also asked to help clear radioactive debris from the roof after the fire was extinguished. There were fears that "lava" from the molten reactor could reach the water, triggering a further, potentially far more powerful explosion. Now, volunteers, including veterinarians and radiation experts, have formed the nonprofit charity Dogs of Chernobyl. "The reactor looked so damaged, it seemed there was nothing else to do there.". The body of one of them, Valery Khodemchuk, was never recovered from the reactor debris. Shift leader Borys Baranov died in 2005, while Valery Bespalov and Oleksiy Ananenko, both chief engineers of one of the reactor sections, are still alive and live in the capital, Kiev. Finally, 11 days after the disaster, officials warned the residents of Kiev that they should avoid eating leafy vegetables and to stay indoors. For instance if someone's face melted off or someone's eyes changed color, the details absolutely would have showed up in the many academic articles and books written about ARS in Chernobyl victims. I'd love to see the original footage they used from CNPP reactor #4, there are shots of Kovalenko, Akimov, Davletbayev and even Khodemchuk. Chernobyl engineer Oleksiy Breus, then and now, beside the backdrop of the TV portrayal of the disaster, By Viacheslav Shramovych and Hanna Chornous, Mr Breus revisited the reactor's control room 20 years after the disaster struck, Viktor Bryukhanov (left) sits alongside deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov (orange shirt) and chief engineer Nikolai Fomin during a trial over the accident, British actor Adam Nagaitis played Vasily Ignatenko, one of the first firefighters on the scene of the disaster, The view of the damaged building from the roof of reactor No. And Oleksiy Breus sees their portrayal as "not a fiction, but a blatant lie". Tatarchuk said of the aftermath, It was criminal. This further increase in power caused the reactor to explode. The actor playing Alexander Akimov, for instance, was never even put in makeup to depict the loss of his face. Unfortunately, it takes these tragic events to impress this on us.[6]. 0000013685 00000 n Firefighters sent from neighbouring Pripyat did not know of any radiation exposure and Ignatenko died of acute radiation syndrome on 13 May 1986. Abagian recalled, Children were running in the streets; people were hanging laundered linen out to dry. He was the third child of Tatiana Petrovna Ignatenko and Ivan Tarasovish Ignatenko. "I was surprised they even brought us there," Mr Breus says of arriving at work the morning after the explosion. During his studies of the reactor documentation, he mentioned to his friend, Sasha Korol, that control rods may, in certain circumstances, accelerate rather than slow the reaction. "A thin stream the firemen poured probably evaporated before it even reached reactor.". [4] He left the control room but decided to return out of a sense of responsibility. He has only two weeks left to live. Hours after the world's worst nuclear accident, engineer Oleksiy Breus entered the control room of the No. In that moment, standing where Dyatlov, and [Nikolai] Fomin, and [Viktor] Bryukhanov stood it was very chilling. However, this plan only did more harm than good. 4 reactor, and operator Leonid Toptunov, who both feature prominently in the series. Is it Kovalenko? [11] They were found guilty of gross violation of safety regulations which led to an explosion. "As we moved through it, we were aware that there were the ghosts of history around us," Mazin said. However, the deputy chief engineer of the power plant Anatoly Dyatlov ordered to proceed with the tests. The digging only pushed radioactive material deeper into the soil and closer to the water table, so that contamination spread even further., Today, only two buildings are left standing, one of which is the former kindergarten, where children were not evacuated until 36 hours of exposure. 9:25 is very likely Khodemchuk, and 9:29 is Davletbayev. 6 in Moscow, where Alexander Akomv is suffering towards death. %PDF-1.6 % More than 500,000 residents in Ukraine were ultimately forced to leave their homes. All three men were sentenced to 10 years in a labour camp for their role in the disaster and series creator Craig Mazin maintains that Dyatlov in particular was a "real bully", who later made statements that were not credible. One after the other, like giant beetles, kilometre after kilometre. [] It was a kind of torture I would have never even contemplated. It is the worst human-induced accident that the Earth has ever seen, to say the least of it. Thanks for the tip off. Shift leader Borys Baranov died in 2005, while Valery Bespalov and Oleksiy Ananenko, both chief engineers of one of the reactor sections, are still alive and live in the capital, Kiev. Toptunov had literally turned white.". A subreddit to discuss the Chernobyl Disaster that happened on the night of April 26, 1986, and the Exclusion Zone that isolates the city of Pripyat from the rest of the world. Aleksandr Akimov was born on 6 May 1953 in Novosibirsk, Russian SFSR (Republic of the Soviet Union). "If I didn't do it, they could just fire me. April 1986, it turns out, wasnt Dyatlovs first nuclear accident. Founder of Crime Viral community since 2015. He points to a few inaccuracies in the TV portrayal. trailer "The Chernobyl catastrophe is depicted in a very powerful way, as a global catastrophe that absorbed huge numbers of people. Akimov eventually succumbed to acute radiation syndrome two weeks after the disaster at the age of 33. But while many have complimented the show's attention to detail, he believes it is also one of the downsides of the TV series. Underreported stories. The reason was the reactors unstable condition due to low electrical network power. At 9:25 time mark, do you think it might be Khodemchuk? If you can find a source, Id be interested to know. "They took off their clothes, but not like it was shown in the film, not right down to nothing," Mr Breus insists, also pointing out that their role was ultimately not significant to the story. He points to a few inaccuracies in the TV portrayal. The Emmy-winning HBO mini-series "Chernobyl," which is a dramatized account of the 1986 nuclear power plant disaster, has rekindled conversation about the accident, its subsequent cleanup and the long-term impacts on people living near the power plant. Originally, robots from West Germany, Japan, and Russia were used to help clean the debris, but they could not operate due to the high levels of radiation. Police roamed the streets wearing gas masks, but the residents were kept in the dark and only heard rumors. startxref "The miners are shown as tough guys who are not afraid of anything, but not the power plant workers.". "Radiation exposure, red skin, radiation burns and steam burns were what many people talked about but it was never shown like this. The level of radiation in the Chernobyl zone is still the same today as it was in 1986.[9]. In 1976, Akimov graduated from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, with the degree of specialist in engineering and automation of heat and power processes. I felt it probably the most when we were in the city of Chernobyl [] theres a small building thats basically the cultural center, where they put on shows and songs about the Soviet Union and Lenin, and that is the room where they eventually held a trial that we will talk about in episode five. It was close to midnight at the end of April 26 when an evacuation was ordered; 1,200 buses and 200 trucks relocated 47,000 residents of Pripyat. ", Russia to make its own show about Chernobyl, Giant structure moves in to cover Chernobyl, TV drama Chernobyl: 'So chilling, it spares you nothing', Chernobyl: The end of a three-decade experiment, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. The miners finished their work ahead of schedule, but by then the molten core had cooled itself. Akimov heard reports of massive reactor damage, but did not believe it, and as a result relayed false information about the state of the reactor for hours after. 10 Most Haunted Buildings In New York City And Their, 10 Iconic Mascots And Their Surprising Backstories, Top 9 Newly Found Photos Of Ted Bundy And Their, Top 10 Murder Houses In Los Angeles And Their, 10 Superhero Actors Who Have Their Own Tragic Backstories, Top 10 Haunting Images Of Historic Tragedies [DISTURBING], 10 Cereals With Strange And Interesting Backstories, 10 Most Haunting Cases Investigated By Ed And, 10 Controversial Toys You Might Already Have in Your Home, Ten Absolutely Vicious Fights over Inherited Fortunes, 10 Female Film Pioneers Who Shaped the Movies, Ten True Tales from Americas Toughest Prison, 10 Times Members of Secretive Societies and Organizations Spilled the Beans, 10 Common Idioms with Unexpectedly Dark Origins, 10 North American Animals with Misplaced Reputations, 10 Modern Radiation Accidents Involving Civilians, 10 Famous Incidences of Death by Radiation, Top 10 Creepiest Forests Around the World, 10 Chilling Myths and Ghosts Youve Probably Never Heard Of, 10 Terrifying First-Hand Accounts Of Sleep Paralysis, Top 10 Creepiest Things From Around The Internet, 10 Creepy And Mysterious Phantom Vehicles. Tel: +38 063 58 16 661E-mail: [emailprotected], Exciting private tours to Chernobyl and Pripyat. Because its so big! He died of radiation sickness two weeks after the accident at the age of 33. Tatiana Ignatenko was a collective farm fieldworker, and Ivan Ignatenko a tractor, and later truck . On April 26, 1986, an explosion occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the northern part of Soviet Ukraine, an event which today is widely known as the Chernobyl disaster. You could see the equipment and pumps exposed. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Its no better now than it was 28 years ago. The Accident at Chernobyl: What Caused the Explosion? BBC Ukrainian Hours after the world's worst nuclear accident, engineer Oleksiy Breus entered the control room of the No. I also heard that his otopsy file is closed to the public and is only accessible with specific permission. Later in May, the Russian first deputy health minister also issued a warning that vodka and red wine were not a cure for radiation exposuredespite popular belief. During the test, Akimov called for the AZ-5 (scram) button to be pressed to shut down the reactor, and Toptunov operated the button. Likewise Toptunov was Lyonya. "It was our job," says Oleksiy Ananenko, who was on shift at the time, while the others had been ordered in by their manager. 4 reactor, Oleksiy Ananenko (then and now) with a scene from the TV series showing the three workers wearing respirators, The TV series portrays how 400 miners were involved in digging the tunnel under the damaged reactor, The TV series shows Pripyat residents watching events unfold on what was later nicknamed the "Bridge of Death", The damage caused to the facility by the biggest nuclear disaster in history, Chernobyl mini-series review: 'It stops you sleeping', Chernobyl disaster: 'I didn't know the truth', Craig Mazin maintains that Dyatlov in particular was a "real bully", The people who moved to the Chernobyl exclusion zone, US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Canadian grandma helps police snag phone scammer, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus. "It was clear they felt sick. The events of Chernobyl made me focus on my own mortalityon all our mortality. Because what it can do is savage. Nevertheless, Mazin says the creators wanted to avoid abusive filmmaking and decided not to show the absolute extremes of radiation sickness. There was a comment on a post about him. At least 5,000 people were badly affected at the time, while women who were pregnant were simply told to have abortions. Creator Craig Mazin Stars Jessie Buckley Jared Harris Stellan Skarsgrd See production, box office & company info Watch on HBO Max S1 with Prime Video Channels More watch options When the reactor has been put into a poisoned condition, they tried to raise the power at whatever the cost. One resident recalled, Queues of jammed buses left the city. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnFeTe0nDw8. I think you mean Aleksandr Akimov at Chernobyl, who was the shift supervisor on the night of the disaster. In the hours after the explosion, he spoke to Oleksandr Akimov, the shift leader at the No. Mr Breus worked with many of the individuals portrayed and has given his verdict of the series. When the operators pushed the red button, the reactor didn't stop but exploded.". FromBudapesttoBishkek. The calamity is considered the most disastrous nuclear power plant accident in history, and the area itself is still suffering in its aftermath. In 2008, Akimov was posthumously awarded with what they called the 3rd degree Order for Courage. The roles of three key personalities lie at the heart of the story: Plant director Viktor) Bryukhanov, chief engineer Nikolai Fomin and deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov. Read about our approach to external linking. The buses which escorted the residents out of Pripyat spread the radiation to wider areas. The information is all on the level of 'he said, she said'. You can see Gorbachenko who was a witness that night and helped in the search of Shashenok. People that are usually blamed for the explosion are the plant employees who worked at the night of the explosion: Aleksandr Akimov, the supervisor of the shift; Leonid Toptunov, the senior reactor control chief engineer; and Anatoly Dyatlov, deputy chief engineer of the power plant. "In hospital, I was treated with a guy who biked to that bridge in the morning on 26 April to watch it. Hes not a man anymore, but a reactor. 1156/2008 of 12 December 2008", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leonid_Toptunov&oldid=1139033343, This page was last edited on 13 February 2023, at 00:49. One of the most dramatic scenes in the miniseries shows three power plant workers volunteering to go into an underground tunnel beneath the damaged reactor to open a vital drainage valve. "However, the technological aspects have some discrepancies which may not exactly [be] lies, but merely fiction," he adds. 0000018917 00000 n There are many theories about the reasons for the nuclear plant explosion, but they all have the same common denominator: the human element. Raising power after this point put the reactor into a potentially dangerous state, unbeknownst to the operators.

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